The Lord and the Avatar
by Shadowsnake89
Summary: When a portal opens bridging two Earths, the worlds' respective heroes meet face to face. Will they come to understand the others struggles and do what must be done to keep the Ancient Spirits of Evil from spreading? Maybe after they're done beating each other.
1. Chapter 1

In the center of the vast desert of Third Earth lay the Black Pyramid, base of the ancient warlord Mumm-Ra. Within the vast structure the dark lord stood before the Well of Souls, seemingly meditating before it as the eyes of the statues glowed. Quietly, Pumyra approached him. "Master," She spoke as she knelt before him, the ancient being not turning as he acknowledged her.

"What is it Pumyra?"

"Lord Mumm-Ra, we've received reports of some sort of anomaly in the north."

"Yes I am fully aware. Power such as this does not go unnoticed."

"Shall I have Slithe and the others move on it?"

"No! Simply have them secure the area. I have a specialist in mind for this operation. If there is a stone to be acquired he will retrieve it for me."

"Yes Lord Mumm-Ra." Pumyra arose and exited the chamber as the dark lord made his back to his sarcophagus.

Almost a world away, Slithe and his lizard army had secured the forest surrounding something that was a mix of both amazement and terror for the troops. A massive ball of light sat in a crater that had formed on it's appearance. "Keep your distance! Lord Mumm-Ra wants it untouched until he arrives." Slithe commanded as the troopers gazed at the sphere nervously.

"I don't think he needs to worry about us getting too close." One of them says as his compatriot swallows in a cold sweat.

"That's why I'm here." The lizards turned to a member of the dog race with orange fur and black horizontal stripes running down the back of his neck. He was decked out in black battle gear with numerous weapons strapped to his back. The lizards promptly trained their guns on him only for Slithe to push them away.

"Mumm-Ra informed us you'd be here, Demolisher, The most dangerous bounty hunter in all of Third Earth."

"All hail The Demolisher!" A small armadillo like being, wearing a blue tunic and red cape said as he beat a set of drums, marching ahead of the hunter.

"My men will show you the way." Slithe offered before being shoved aside by the dog.

"I think I can find my way." He said as he approached the bright orb.

 **Meanwhile**

Elsewhere on the planet, the Thundercats, aboard the Feliner are on their ever pressing search for the final stone. "So do we actually have a clue to where the final stone is?" Tigra asked as he sat at the helm of the vessel.

"If the rumors we heard are true we might have luck in the east." Lion-o stated as he relaxed in his seat.

Cheetara responded as she sat back in her seat. "The good thing is if we don't know there's also a good chance Mumm-Ra doesn't know either."

A few moments later the Sword of Omens began to glow with a bright light as the entire crew took notice. "What is that Lion-O?" The twins asked as the Lord of the Thundercats pulled out the blade. A beam of light shot forth from the insignia and pointed westward as he held it up.

"What do you think it means?" Tigra inquired as he stared back at them.

"Haven't got a clue but the sword's pointing me in that direction."

"Could be the stone." Panthro stated.

"Only one way to find out. Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight." The blade glows as it gave Lion-O a vision of a far off marshland where a large orb of light sat in the center surrounded by the Lizard army. "Whatever it is it's big. And it's got the Lizard's attention."

"Should we change course?" Tigra asked. "I can have us spun around in two shakes of Snarf''s tail."

"No," Lion-O responded. "It could be the stone or it could be something else entirely. I won't know until I get there. I think it's best we split up for now. Keep your heading and I'll meet back with you guys when I can." The group agreed as Tigra set the ship down and Lion-O prepared to disembark.

"Lion-O wait," Wilykit called out as she ran behind Lion-O with her hover board. "Here, take my board."

"You sure Kit?"

"Were you honestly planning on hoofing it the whole way to the swamp?" She asked with a slightly raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face as Lion-O wore an embarrassed look.

"I guess I didn't think this through."

"Then it's a good thing I'm here to help," She handed him the board. "Just make sure you bring it back in one piece." He nodded in agreement before departing on the newly gifted board. "Be careful." She whispered as Wilykat stood behind her.

"Do you have a crush on Lion-O?" Her brother asked with a toothy smile as she jumped.

"What? No, of course not!" She protested heavily, a flash of red running across her face.

"You like Lion-O. You wanna marry him and become queen of the Thundercats." He teased as he danced around her. "I gotta tell Panthro."

"You better not!" She shouted as she chased him around the outside of the ship.

 **Elsewhere**

"Come on I said I was sorry. Gosh!" A young human with large glasses said as he ran from a large blue blob creature. The young man, with blonde hair and wearing a burgundy and gold jumpsuit propelled himself into the air with a simple motion of his hands, putting distance between himself and his pursuer. The creature shot out a tentacle that wrapped around his leg and yanked, slamming him to the ground.

"Not so fast Hachi," A blast of fire hit the blob's tentacle, forcing it to release it's captive. "Now whatever reason you're upset I'm sure we can talk it out." A young, dark skinned woman said as she landed down between the two. "Now let's just talk rationally and we can work this out."

"Humans angered me with their blasting weapons." The creature said in a gargled voice.

"It's called a camera." The blonde said condescendingly as he sat up.

"Ryu, let mommy handle this. Now Hachi, I understand you don't like humans messing around in your home and I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're not bothered again."

The creature waved a frustrated tentacle at her before turning away back to it's den. The woman then turned her attention back to her companion. "You alright Ryu?" She offered her hand to him as he got to his feet. "You know maybe tour guide isn't the right job for you."

"It would be if people would listen to the no flash photography rules. Idiots." Ryu dusted himself off before addressing his rescuer. "Thanks Korra."

"Anytime. Still I have to admit you've come a long way from that apathetic basement dweller I use to know."

"And you've come a long way from the hot-head that tried to drag me out of said basement." The young man retorted as Korra blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"Yeah well, whatever. We should be getting back anyway."

"I'm in no hurry," Ryu said with slumped shoulders. "My mom's waiting."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Ever since I joined the Air Nomads she's been gushing over it, coming to town every other week and doting on me. I'm glad I'm an airbender, because she's suffocating me."

Korra snickered at the last remark. "Good one," She said as she looked at his very serious face. "Oh, you weren't joking. Well my best advice is...well I don't really have any. My parents and I got along great."

"Gee, thanks." He said depressingly as the two turned to see a flash of light. A large sphere appeared not far from where the two stood as they looked up in awe. "That's...new."

"I'll say," From the sphere emerged a strange armadillo creature. "So is that."

"Make way for the Demolisher! Make way for the Demolisher! Make way for the Demolisher!" He shouted repeatedly as he banged on his drum.

"The Demolisher?" Korra chuckled as she approached him. "You sure you want to stick with that name?"

"It works fine for me," A voice said as a fist came through the orb, hitting Korra square in the face. The blow sends her back several feet as a dog like humanoid emerged. "Now explain to me what's going on or I'll show you how I earned that moniker."

"Don't resist the Demolisher! Don't resist the Demoli...oof!" The hunter smacked the small drummer out of his path.

"Silence Dirge!" He barked as Ryu jumped high into the air to defend Korra. "Ha, this should deal with that nuisance." He pulled out a triangular device from his belt and after taking quick aim squeezed the trigger that fired a whirling light. It wrapped around Ryu before solidifying into metal cables that bound him as he slammed into the ground.

"What is this?" He shouted as he attempted to free himself.

"The Coiler is all I needed to deal with you boy," Demolisher picked him up by the front of his suit. "Now tell me where to find the stone." Before words can be exchanged the bounty hunter is struck from the side by a a large boulder hurled by Korra. He only laughed as he regained his footing. "And I thought this would be a waste of my time. What's your name girl?"

"Avatar Korra, master of all four elements."

"Well Avatar Korra, give me a good fight and you'll have the honor of being the newest addition to my trophy room." He pulled out a tuning fork like device and jabbed it into the ground. Seconds later the earth beneath her feet began to shake as the device continued to vibrate. Using her earthbending, Korra pulled up the ground around her and lifted it into the air as she stood atop it, now free of the violent earthquake device.

Demolisher pressed a button on his left wrist and called the weapon back to him. Placing it back in his bandolier, he hit another button that activated the pack on his back as fire shot from the bottom and it propelled him into the air. "What are you?" Korra asked in shock of his strange devices.

"I am the greatest warrior in the galaxy!"

"Demolisher! Demolisher!" Dirge continued to chant.

Ryu, still locked in the Coiler, took in a deep breath and shot out a gust of air that knocked Dirge back into the sphere to wherever he came from. "Shut up already! Gosh!" He said as the Avatar and the self proclaimed greatest warrior continued to battle.


	2. Chapter 2

Touching down just outside of the Lizard perimeter, Lion-O placed the hover board down by a tree and stealthily made his way through their lines. Ducking into a bush to avoid a patrol he found himself several feet from Slithe as he waits outside the orb with two of his subordinates. Lion-O prepared to make his move as he senses something behind him. He dove to the left as a blade just missed his head and lodged into a tree. "Told you I smelled a cat." Kaynar said as he yanked his blade out of the trunk.

"And the lord of the Thundecats at that." Addicus chuckled as he prepared his mace as a patrol of Lizards surrounded him.

"Looks like you're all alone kitty cat," Kaynar said as he brandished his blade. "Too bad, looks like we'll have to split him Addicus." He laughed maniacally as they closed in. Before they could take further action Dirge tumbled through the sphere. The group turned their attention back to him as, moments later, the sphere erupted in fire and debris as Korra and Demolisher burst out exchanging attacks as the bounty hunter unleashed his arsenal on the woman, who soared through the air with glowing eyes. The Lizards, stunned by what they are witnessing, paid no mind as Lion-O effortlessly disarmed them with his sword.

He swept Addicus' feet, knocking him on top of Kaynar. "Sorry about that but something a little more important just presented itself." The Lord of the Thundercats watched as the dark skinned girl unleashed her power, shooting flames and blasts of air from her hands and uprooting the earth around her. Several of the attacks, meant for her flying opponent, struck several of the Lizards war machines, sending them into a panic as Slithe ordered a retreat.

Lion-O ran full tilt toward the two combatants as Demolisher rams Korra back through the portal. He quickly followed the two, gripping his sword tightly, not sure what he'd face once he went through. Arriving, he finds himself in a lush field. The tranquil surroundings betrayed by the intense battle overhead. "Hey, little help here." He looked down to see a young man wearing glasses tied up in metal cables.

"Mind explaining what's going on here?" Lion-O asked as the battle shifted in their direction.

"Kind of busy here." Ryu took in a deep breath and, shooting it out quickly, propelled himself across the ground and out of the way of the oncoming destruction. Lion-O likewise jumped out of the way as Korra hurled a large ball of fire at Demolisher that he swiftly evaded with his jet pack.

"It'll take more than that to stop me girl." He cackled as he pressed a button on his belt that activated a series of mini munitions on his chest that fired several lasers and small rockets at her. The barrage forced her back as she shielded herself with several boulders and launched some back in retaliation.

"That's enough of this." Lion-O hurled his sword into the air, putting a large gash into Demolisher's pack, causing him to spiral out of control and back through the portal. He called the sword back to himself as Korra turned to him, unaware of his assistance and attacked with a barrage of fireballs as he he ran for cover behind a rock for temporary relief. He prepared his sword, waiting to counterattack, only to see the sword had returned to it's dagger form.

"Come on Sword of Omens, what now?" He stopped, realizing the truth about his attacker. "Alright, I'm trusting you this time." He put the sword in it's scabbard before leaping out with his hands in the air. "I give up!"

Korra took aim before she witnessed her opponent waving his arms in surrender. This halted her assault as she calmed herself and slowly descended to the ground, walking toward him slowly with a fireball in hand. "One chance tough guy. Who are you and what's going on?"

"I'm Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats. And I was actually hoping you could tell me what's happening."

Korra refused to put on a straight face as the ball of fire dissipated from her hand and she began to laugh hysterically. "Lord...of the...Thundercats?" She stops after a few moments with Lion-O none to pleased. "Oh, you were serious. Sorry, this has been a weird day."

"Tell me about it."

"I'm Korra by the way." She offered a friendly hand to him that he accepts.

"What is this place exactly? Seems familiar somehow."

"The spirit world. It's connected to my world by a few portals. And apparently you've found another one from...Where are you from exactly?"

"A place called Third Earth."

"Third Earth? What happened to the other two?" She joked before returning to a more serious tone. "But seriously, I've never seen that portal before and I've been around this spot a few times. Of course it's not like this world makes much sense navigation wise, trust me."

"My sword detecting something on Third Earth and I assumed it was a stone."

"Wait, you came all this way for a rock?"

"Sorry I guess I should explain first. You see..."

"Hey guys. I know you have business to attend to but mind cutting me loose first?" Ryu shouted, still bound in the cables.

"Right, sorry bud." Korra said as the two dashed over. Lion-O removed his now dagger length blade and used it to cut the young man free.

"Thanks," Ryu said as he dusted himself off. "So what are you gonna do about this. I say you because I have no intention of getting involved in any of this."

"Ah, come on," Korra said before punching him in the shoulder. "Where's you're sense of adventure?"

"Must have left it back at the temple, which is where I'm going." Just as he said this, the shadow of a large creature soaring overhead covered the three. Ryu shuttered for a moment. "On second thought, you might be in need of a bodyguard. So where to?"

"Let's see." Lion-O held up his sword as a beam of light shot from the Eye of Thndera, pointing to a mountain in the distance. "That looks like a good place to start."

On the other side of the portal things were not going as planned for the Lizard army as they scrambled to reorganize after the chaos that had occurred. "Well that was fun." Kanar said as he laughed maniacally.

"Shut up you mutt." Slithe said as his men fell silent shortly after as Mumm-Ra's personal transport approached in the distance, a wing of fighters led by Voltaire acting as his escort. The generals quickly assemble as it touches down and both Mumm-Ra and Pumyra exit the vehicle with the Bird-man in tow. The others bow as he gets near. "Lord Mumm-Ra. We were not expecting you."

"No, you weren't. Something unsettling has brought itself to my attention. Where is the stone?"

"Lion-O and some creature from the portal battled and decimated our forces." The Lizard explained as Mumm-Ra stood over him.

"Where is The Demolisher?"

Slithe snapped his fingers as a dozen Lizard guards bring The Demolisher forward. "The hunter failed to retrieve the stone for you master."

"The Demolisher never fails!" Durge said repeatedly, beating his drum before Pumyra knocks him unconscious with a pellet from her sling.

The hunter, for his part, kneels down before Mumm-Ra. "I have failed you my lord. I have no excuse. But with your permission I'd like to make amends for my failure."

"You can't be serious." Pumyra scoffed before her master stretches out his arm to the hunter.

"You're request is granted." He stated simply before moving around him, walking toward the portal.

"Master, why did you spare that fool?" Pumyra asked.

"I told you that I sensed something coming from this. Something that I assumed I had wiped from the universe long ago. For everything there must be an opposite, even myself, and that is Mumm-Rana."

"Mumm-Rana, master?"

"As I harness the power of the Spirits of Evil she did so with the Spirits of Good. We did battle long ago for the fate of this Universe and she was destroyed. The fact that I sense her once again is disturbing to say the least. And if she is able to ally with Lion-O there may be no stopping them."

"That's why you spared that hunter?"

"It will take all of our resources to stop this from happening. Have Slythe rally the troops we need to act as quickly as possible."

 **Spirit World**

"So let me get this straight," Korra said as the three walked together in a forest. She had become increasingly interested in Lion-O's tales of his adventures. "You're battling some ancient evil warlord with these stones that control different facets of your universe and if he collects them all first it's basically all over for everyone?"

"Pretty much. That's why we have to find it as soon as possible. If Mumm-Ra gets his hands on this one there's no telling the damage he'll cause."

"But I wonder why the sword drew you here and more importantly how did a portal open up."

"I'm not sure but there has to be a reason for it." Lion-O stops as he sees something moving on his right out of the corner of his eye. "Did you see that?" He whispered to the others as they stopped in their tracks.

"I didn't see anything." Ryu stated. Lion-O's eyes continued to scan the trees until he spotted a single figure, clad in white race away from them.

"Stop!" He shouted as he gave chase to the figure.

"What's he doing? There's nothing there." Ryu joined Korra in following him.

"This place has a way of making you see things. If there is something or someone, we can't see them."

"Well doesn't that just make all the sense in the world." Ryu sarcastically commented as the two continued to follow before watching Lion-O disappear completely in a flash of light, his sword and gauntlet all that remained. "This is why I never come here." Ryu's comment awarded him a shove from Korra that knocked him over. A few seconds later the ground gives way beneath their feet and the two plummet into a dark cavern.

"Well that's just great." Korra said as she lit up the area with her firebending. As the flame illuminated the area she saw several humanoid figures crawling on the walls around them. As she slowly helped Ryu to this feet a hissing voice came from across the room.

"Avatar Korra," The voice said as a tall, purple skinned figure came into the light, flanked by two others. They all appeared to be of the same kind as the ones on the cave walls. "So nice of you to join us. It's so rare we get visitors to our humble abode. You know, not being welcome in the human world and all."

"Brilliant, first the portal opens, then I lose the new guy and now we're in the lair of the Jiangshi. What a day Korra."

 **Elsewhere**

Lion-O found himself lost in what seemed like an ever expanding swamp, a thick fog keeping him from getting his bearings. In the distance he could hear the faint sound of footsteps around him. "Show yourself!" He shouted, knowing someone was getting closer.

"You are Thunderan?" The voiced asked. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I am Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats and I'm here to..." He stops as a silhouette becomes visible among the fog.

"Lord of the Thundercats? Where is Claudus?"

Lion-O clenches his fist as he forces the words from his lips. "He's...he's dead."

"You're Claudus' son? Is Tygra dead as well?"

"How do you know my father and Tygra?"

The figure soon reveals herself, a female Thunderan in a white dress. "Claudus was my husband. Tygra was my son, as you are my little prince. Or should I say Lord now?"

"Mom?"


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't understand," Lion-O was still shaken to finally come face to face with his mother, someone who had supposedly died on the day of his birth. "How is this possible?"

"Of that I can't be certain my son," She said as she approached him and put a hand to his cheek. "But whatever force has brought me here, whatever it's intention, I'm glad that it's allowed me to see you with my own eyes."

Lion-O looked into her eyes before embracing her. "Me too. There's so much I want to ask you."

"As do I my son."

 **Meanwhile**

Korra and Ryu, restrained with some sort of adhesive substance, found themselves unwitting guests of the Jiangshi as they were dragged through the tunnels of there cavernous home. "Welcome Avatar Korra and associate." Korra recognized the voice as they reached a large circular room dimly lit by torches along the walls and one large chandelier on the ceiling with more torches. The voice came from a Jiangshi who, while the same towering height as the others was a bit on the heavyset side. "I am Ridwan, leader of my people. You know I haven't met an Avatar personally since Karza led the humans to wipe us out."

"Why would he do that?" She asked as he approached.

"Because he and the humans feared our power. When they left off the great lion turtles they sought out the world we already possessed. They used their power to control the elements to drive us from our lands across the physical world. Many of us hibernated beneath the earth for our time to strike back. Cixi was awoken by a group of humans in your Republic City." He gestured as a female, dressed in what appeared to be United Republic Military garb stepped forward.

"I was able to locate many of our nests that still remained and when the portals opened we made our way here to bide our time." She explained.

"Bide your time for what exactly?" Korra inquired.

"The conquest of the human world," Ridwan said as he raised his arms to the sky. "Once we have prepared ourselves we will return and claim what was once ours. The humans will bow before us as they should and we shall rip down the towers they have built to the Heavens and restore the land to what it once was."

"This guy is nuts." Ryu said under his breath, catching Ridwan's attention. With blinding speed he moved across the room and pulling the airbender off the ground by his neck.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Wheels within wheels are already in motion. Either way, one of you will not live to see what we have in store." He threw Ryu to the side and ordered two of the guards to get him to his feet. They moved the two along before being brought to the upper level of the room where a throne was placed in what appeared to be a private seating area. "You know, Avatar Karza started the process of exterminating us but in time many humans took to killing us for sport, like we were some great trophy to be slain. Now I think it's time for us to have a bit of sport of our own."

Snapping his fingers a group of Jiangshi illuminate the room with further with glowing green stones that shine brightly as Korra and Ryu now see that the room is far larger than it looked, containing hundreds of Jiangshi in elevated seating around the room. "Welcome to our arena. Usually we'd be having a few of our less motivated soldiers duke it out but having humans, one of them the Avatar no less, well that is a spectacle you rarely see."

"What's your game Ridwan?" Korra questioned with a none too pleased look on her face.

"It's quite simple, take a look," He gestured down to the ground floor where two guards were bringing out a young woman with tan skin. Her black hair was kept in a high ponytail and her garments consisted of a pair of dark blue trousers along with a similarly colored tunic with a leather bandolier and brown boots. The guards promptly throw her knees as Korra looks on. "We caught her about a day ago, snooping through our tunnels. Hasn't said a word despite the work over my troopers gave her. Finding you here I can see why she was silent."

"I have no idea who she is."

"No? Well then I offer you the opportunity to get acquainted with her." He promptly tore away Korra's restraints then proceeded to kick her from the opening. She barely managed to use airbending to cushion her fall though still hit the ground with significant impact. "Now here's the deal, you shall fight for your lives. The winner will be set free. The loser...well let's just say we gave you a chance that you didn't exactly capitalize on."

"We're not fighting for your amusement." Korra said as she stood up which warranted a momentary frown from the Jiangshi leader. He snapped his finger again as another female moved behind Ryu, placing her hand on his shoulder and moved him into Korra's view.

"Now let's get this straight. You refuse to fight, attempt to escape or use any type of bending to aid you and I'm afraid Fu here will have to feast on your friend." Fu responded by licking the top of the acolyte's head, causing him to shiver. "Now do choose a weapon so we can get started." he continued as a rack was brought out with all manner of combat weaponry.

Korra's opponent quickly grabbed a short sword and circular shield, moving away from the rack as the Avatar hesitantly grabbed a simple wooden staff. "Well that's not going to do her any good." One of the onlookers said among many other comments that filled the arena. As they watched from the box Fu brought her face down to Ryu's level and whispered into his ear. "Regardless of the outcome I shall still feast upon your succulent...noggin." She licked her lips, a twisted smile on her face.

Half annoyed and half disturbed, Ryu could only comment simply, "Nice to know."

The fight commenced as the two circled one another, each waiting for an opening as the crowd roared. "I'm not going to kill you for their entertainment." Korra said, the other woman not the slightest bit fazed by her comment.

"The way I see it neither of us have much of a choice." She kept her gaze pointed toward Korra's feet until she watched for a slight shift in her opponent's foot placement and lunged forward, catching her completely off guard. The Avatar parried away the sword as the woman swung the shield at her as well. Korra used her airbender training to gracefully evade the incoming attacks. "You can't win this by dodging me." Taking her words to heart, Korra swung the staff in an offensive maneuver that ultimately proved fruitless as her foe slipped the blows through feint head and foot movement and advancing on her.

The woman flipped over Korra, taking a swipe at her head with the sword. It forced the Avatar to flip back as well placing the two back to back. They managed to fight out of this rather uncomfortable position as she used the staff to block several of the attacks and attempted to return on them as well. She swiftly ducked as her opponent swung her blade which caused her to spin around. Korra promptly came back up and smashed the top of her head into the other woman's chin. As she reeled back from the blow Korra took full advantage, using her staff to relieve her of the sword than the shield.

Several more blows and the woman was forced to her knees. "It's over." Korra said as she held the tip of the staff to her opponent's throat.

"No, it's not over until she's dead, remember?" Ridwan shouted from his box. He quickly became displeased as Korra stood over her defeated foe, refusing to deliver the final blow.

"What are you doing?" the young woman asked. "Finish this!"

"I won't harm an innocent victim. We're in the same boat as you."

"Fortunately for me I have no problem taking the fight to you." With a swift motion, the woman hurled a handful of dirt from the arena floor into Korra's eyes. She jumped up just as the Avatar turned away and, using only her bare hands, managed to bring her blinded target down with several precise blows. The woman quickly retrieved her sword and shield, pressing the bladed weapon close to Korra's throat before leaning down close to her. "Stay down until I give the signal." She whispered, catching her would be victim by surprise.

She raised her sword high as the crowd cheered and just as she was about to deliver the final blow she swung around, aiming her shield at the box where Ridwan and the others were. Flexing her wrist, the shield fired several pellets from an underside compartment that shot into the box. The projectiles exploded in a thick cloud of smoke the obscured the vision of those inside. Taking advantage of the confusion, Ryu shot a powerful gust of air from his mouth that propelled Fu and himself backwards as the Jiangshi was slammed against the wall and knocked out, allowing him time to leap out to safety. "You sure took you're sweet time."

"Well sorry for inconveniencing you." Korra said sarcastically as she used her earthbending to blast the arena door open. The trio quickly made a run for it into the newly opened door as the Jiangshi scrambled to get organized.

"Thank you for sparing me." The woman said as she led the way.

"Likewise. I'm Korra by the way. And this is Ryu."

"Willa. Pleasure to meet you." The three stopped as Willa entered the armory to retrieve her bow and arrows. "Got what I needed. Now all we need is an exit."

"Got you covered." Korra motioned her arms upward and blasted a stairwell into the ceiling of the caves that led directly to the surface as the three promptly scurried up.

"Finally, daylight." Ryu said as he took in a breath of fresh air. The trio froze in their tracks as they heard several clicking sounds behind them. They turned to find themselves facing a rather sizable force of Lizards, their weapons trained on the three as Pumyra stepped forward. "Great, because things couldn't have possibly gotten any worse."

"Surrender Mumm-Rana to us and Master Mumm-Ra may just let you live." she shouted to them as two of the Lizard's mechs moved up behind her.

"Who?" a puzzled Korra asked as Willa slowly reached for a dagger tucked in her sleeve.

"Get them." she ordered as the mechs and troopers moved forward to apprehend the three. Before they could perform the task a crimson beam shot between the two groups, causing the Lizards to stagger back in fear as Lion-O landed in the center.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he turned his head slightly to Korra and the others.

"Well, well, well," Pumyra said mockingly to the Lord of Thundera. "Didn't think I'd see you here. It's been a while hasn't it? Hope you're not expecting a kiss."

"What are you doing here Pumyra?"

"Whatever Lord Mumm-Ra asks of me. Now I'll ask one more time. Hand over the girl and we'll be on our way." Her demand is answered by a blade thrown at her head by Willa. The blade came just short as her superhuman reaction time allowed her to catch the projectile close to her face. Casting it aside, one of the Lizards tossed her a spear and she charged forward as they opened fire.

Korra shielded the group by erecting a wall of solid rock between them and their adversaries. "Maybe next time you should let him finish talking before you try taking someone out." Willa responded with a scowl that quickly changed into a look of shock as Pumyra leaped over the wall and separated the group with her spear, singling out Lion-O first as the others attempted to aid him only to find themselves under attack from the mechs and foot soldiers.

Korra used her firebending to put a wall between them and the troops, which did little good as they continued firing. A combined display of airbending between her and Ryu was enough to scatter many of them however. The mechs on the other hand weren't so easily moved as they fired their shoulder mounted cannons, forcing the two to take evasive maneuvers. Meanwhile Willa made her way to Lion-O's aid as the two attacked Pumyra from both sides. The Thundercat swung a heavy blow toward his opponent, only for her to somersault above the attack, firing several projectiles from her wrist mounted slingshot.

"I have you covered Lord Lion-O!" Willa shouted as she moved into the line of fire, deflecting the attack with her shield.

"Thanks."

Pumyra landed down and rushed the duo as the three engaged in a lightning fast exchange. The grueling contest only came to an end when Lion-O clenched weapons with her, giving Willa the opportunity to break Pumyra's spear in two and sent her reeling back. "Give it up." Lion-O commanded as Willa and he had their swords extended.

"Not likely." She said with a smirk as reinforcements arrived and quickly encircled the group.

"If any of you have an idea I'd love to hear it." Ryu whispered as Korra looked down and saw patches of ground begin to rise.

"Well here's probably our best one right now." she said with a smirk. Seconds later the Jiangshi emerged from their subterranean abode in mass and quite angry. The Lizard's first instinct to fire was a definite mistake as Ridwan and his followers retaliated, resulting in a large scale clash. "And there's our diversion." Korra flipped a Jiangshi over her shoulder and used her airbending to cut them a path through the melee. Neither side seemed to notice as they were far too busy battling each other to stop the four escapees.

After they had made good distance between themselves and the skirmish that had erupted the group turned as they heard what sounded like thunder and the sky above the battle area turned a menacing crimson. "That can't be good at all." Ryu said as Korra prodded him to keep moving.

After about an hour or two, time wasn't exactly easy to keep in this realm, the group made it to a lush forest where they found a clearing to catch their breath and regroup."Alright, anyone want to tell me what that was all about?" Lion-O asked, panting heavily.

"I could ask you the same thing," Korra stated. "One minute you're with us then you vanished in a flash of light. Where did you go anyway?"

"I..I bumped into someone I used to know, that's all." Korra gave him a raised eyebrow as he turned his gaze to Willa. "Thanks for the help back there. I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm..." Before he could continue, Lion-O found the young woman knelt down at his feet.

"Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats, wielder of the Sword of Omens. My people have heard of your many exploits and your search for the stones to stop Mumm-Ra and his armies. My name is Willa of the Jungle Clans. I am a Warrior Maiden, the personal guard to my sister, Queen Nayda."

A bit off put by the gesture Lion-O offers his hand for her to rise. She kept her head down slightly, partially in respect but mostly to keep him from seeing the smile on her face. "What are you doing here?"

She cleared her throat and put on a serious expression before turning back to him. "Right. The Queen sent me to scout out strange troop movements from Mumm-Ra's army. I shadowed them for several days before I stumbled upon their camp near a large sphere of energy. I slipped through the lines to better understand what it was and, against my better judgment, I went through it. I was only a few hours into searching this place when, to my shame, I was captured by those creatures. Fortunately your friends here presented the perfect opportunity for me to make my escape."

"At first I thought they were looking for a power stone," Lion-O said with a hand to his chin. "But from what my moth...erm, from that someone I mentioned earlier told me, there may not be any stone here at all."

"The one, she mentioned something about someone called Mumm-Rana," Korra responded. "The name ring any bells?"

"No, though it does sound like Mumm-Ra may have some competition if he's doing all of this to find them."

"But if he really does control the spirits of evil who knows what his presents could do here," Korra stated. "You've fought him before right? What are his weaknesses?"

"Not many. And with the tech stone in his possession I barely fought on even ground with him."

"But you never had an Avatar on your side. With the two of us together I doubt he..." Korra's boast was cut short as Willa stopped her mid sentence, holding her bow tightly as she threw an intense stare into the woods. The others turned to see the Jiangshi referred to as Cixi standing a few meters away in the thick brush, her eyes trained on them from her position. Willa prepared to notch an arrow before Korra placed a hand on her weapon, calmly turning to their stalker.

"May I come closer?" Cixi asked simply as the four traded odd looks.

"Sure." The Avatar said hesitantly as the tall creature entered the clearing.

"May I sit?"

"I'd rather you didn't." Willa said with hate in her eyes.

"I understand that you are...distrustful of our kind but in our experiences humans bring only trouble. Though I did work with many humans during my time in your Republic City, Avatar. They did prove themselves capable allies."

"Yeah, Ridwan mentioned that earlier. What was that all about?"

"During Amon's revolution I served with a group opposed to his mad ravings. We worked in the shadows doing what others weren't willing to do. As we fought shoulder to shoulder I met many humans that I was proud to call my friends. But that is a story for another time."

"Aw shucks, I'm a sucker for a good story." Korra playfully snapped her finger as she had a wide grin on her face. Cixi is less than amused however, her face never changing from it's stern expression.

"Though we fought for the same cause, albeit unknowingly, know that my love for humanity ended with them. I feel we are getting off track however. I have come to warn you that Ridwan has pledged our allegiance to Mumm-Ra." This news shocks all present as she continues.

"He seemed foolish when I was his prisoner but why on Third Earth would he team with Mumm-Ra?" Willa asked.

"Ridwan believes that Mumm-Ra can give us back what we lost in our homeland. We've witnessed his power first hand and he quickly offered our services as trade."

"And the reason you came all the way here to tell us that is...?" Korra asked, curious to the answer.

"I believe that Mumm-Ra has the power to give us back what we lost. What I don't believe is that he'll actually deliver on it. I came to warn you if there is even the slightest chance he can be stopped."

"Well I think we can roll out the possibility of there being a stone," Lion-O commented. "What we really need to do is find out exactly what it was that opened that portal. We find that and all we need to do is send Mumm-Ra and his forces right back through."

"We'll need to buy some time," Willa commented. "If his armies are truly on the march it will take more than just the for of us to do it."

"What are you thinking?"

"If I can skirt them I can get back through the portal and contact my sister. Our warriors may not match them for numbers but we certainly have more fighting spirit than those thin skinned Lizards."

Korra rubbed her chin in thought. "That's not a bad idea. As a matter of fact that just gave me a plan of my own." She then turned her attention back to Cixi. "Thank you."

"Don't make too much out of this," she said as she turned to leave. "I simply wish to give my people the best chance at survival. If all fails, maybe you'll at least have made yourselves useful by weakening Mumm-Ra enough for us to finish him." She stopped a few feet away before turning back to them. "And you, spectacle wearer. Fu is a master hunter. She has your scent and she will not stop until she has consumed you." Cixi disappeared into the thick brush moments later leaving the group to ponder.

Ryu, for his part put his head down in frustration. "Well my mom always said the girls would be chasing me around someday. Why did it have to be like this though?" Korra gave him a reassuring pat on the back as the group chuckled.

"So, here's what I'm thinking if we want to have a chance of beating Mumm-Ra." Korra explained as the others listened intently.

After about twenty minutes of coordinating Korra and Lion-O set out as Ryu and Willa head off in different directions of their own respectively. "Sure hope we can pull this off." the lord of the Thundercats said as he and Korra made their way to a destination unknown to either of them.

"If not all three worlds better get used to being ruled by an incorporeal fiend. Are you sure we should be following the sword's direction?"

"The Sword of Omens detected the portal when it first opened and it's been more active the farther into this world we get. The old friend I mentioned earlier told me to trust that the sword will guide us to whatever it is that's causing a bridge between our worlds."

It beats just stumbling around like a baby in the dark I guess." After a few minutes of silence, Korra decided to strike up another conversation. "So...seems like you and that Pumyra have a bit of...history."

"Was it that obvious?" Lion-O chuckled as they continued to walk.

"Well let's just say their was just enough for me to put two and two together."

"She joined up with us not long ago on our search for the stones and proved she could handle herself. But she had a soft side that I could see even from the start. Over time we started to develop a connection. Turns out in the end she was just using me to locate the stones for Mumm-Ra."

"Ouch."

"Worst part is that it was all my fault from the beginning. When our land was decimated by Mumm-Ra's forces Pumyra needed my help and I wasn't there to save her. Mumm-Ra offered her the chance at life and revenge against me for what she saw as me abandoning our people."

"I don't believe that." Korra spoke up. "You're out here risking your life to keep what happened to Thundera from happening everywhere else. Pumyra has let her emotions blind her to what's really happening. I've dealt with a few like her in the past. I just wasn't unlucky enough to have dated any of them." Her final comment gets a good laugh out of Lion-O as the mood lightens.

"What about you? Anyone special waiting for you back home?" The question solicits a chuckle from Korra.

"That ship has sailed for the time being."

"What do you mean?"

"I dated a couple of times, nothing really stuck. Hurt some feelings, broke some trust. I finally decided to put the relationships on hold for the time being and focus on my duties. Figured the world needs an Avatar more than I need a significant other right now."

"I suppose it's not all that easy to balance responsibilities with pleasure. But hey I'm sure you'll find someone. You've got a lot of life ahead of you still."

"Well, one of my past lives did live to be over two hundred so I'll hopefully have between now and then to make one stick." She joked as they walked on. "You on the other hand might not have that long a wait."

"Hmm?"

"Come on, like you didn't notice Willa checking you out." Lion-O looked a bit dumbfounded by the comment. "It's just my intuition of course but I can tell. It's the subtle things you pick up on. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean it's not everyday you meet a king."

"Avatar Korra, Avatar Korra!" The conversation ends as a small white spirit hopes up into Korra's arms. "We need your help."

"Slow down little guy. What's all the excitement about?"

"A weird thing crashed over there the other day."

"Scary thing?"

"It looked like a giant dinner plate. It came out of the sky and plowed right into the side of the mountain." The creature pointed repeatedly in the direction.

"Don't worry we're going to check it out. In the meantime you should find somewhere to hide. It's not safe out here right now. And warn any others you see, okay?"

"You got it." The small spirit hoped away as the two made their way to the mountain where they found what appeared to be a large disk like vessel planted firmly at the base of the formation. They cautiously approached it as a door opened, sliding quickly upward where a human male stood in the doorway. He wore drab green jumpsuit with brown army boots. He put a hand to his brown, slicked back hair in disbelief as he witnessed the two standing a short distance away.

"I can't believe it," He said against their stunned silence. "Avatar Korra and Lion-O! Korra and Lion-O are standing in front of my ship of all places!" He jumped up excitedly several times before finally calming himself down. "Forgive me it's just...I'm such a huge fan of yours. Please come in. I'm sure you have no end of questions."

The two were hesitant at first before walking up and joining him. "I'm Bernard by the way but my friends just call me Bernie." He said swiftly as he furiously shook both of their hands.

"Right." Korra said with a raised eyebrow. "So what exactly is this?"

"Well this is my ship. It's sort of..."

"Boss, boss, boss!" His explanation was interrupted as three others ran into the room. They were two light skinned young woman, one with puffy blonde hair and the other with silver hair tied back in a bun. The third was a young man with long black hair and a rather pale complexion. "We detected movement outside the ship and we think it might be..." They stopped as they saw the two guests in front of them. "Oh, you already know."

Bernard sighed before speaking again. "These would be my compatriots Rush, Zap and Angel," he introduced them from the blonde to the black haired male. "who seem to have the innate ability to tell me something useful after it becomes very much late."

"Angel?" Korra attempted to hide a laugh as she put a hand over her mouth.

"It was my mom's idea." the young man sad defensively as he folded his hands.

"In any case, why don't you three head back to the bridge and watch the monitors? And make sure to tell me the moment you see something on the communication channel. That's what we have it for." The trio saluted him before departing.

"Now than, if you'd be so kind as to follow me." He gestured down a hall as the two followed behind him.

"What do you make of all this." Lion-O whispered to Korra.

"I've dealt with nation destroying anarchists, giant death-ray shooting robots and a guy who could strip you of the abilities you were born with and somehow this is throwing me for a loop." She admitted as Bernard stopped at a door, hit a combination of buttons on a pad on the wall and opened the door.

"You asked what all of this was? Why I am here?" he asked as the two nodded and stepped inside with him. "Let me show you." He hit a switch on the wall which illuminated the area, revealing a large room with dozens of glass cases holding various items in them. "Behold, my collection."

The two were speechless as they gazed upon the vast array of exotic items which seemed to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

 **Meanwhile**

"So...Ko...Ko...Korra could rea...really use your help." A shivering Ryu said, covered in snow and ice, his skin dried out as he stood in front of the thrones of the co-chieftains of the Northern Water Tribe, Desna and Eska.

"Oh joy." Desna said in his usual deadpan form of speech as his sister responded to the remark in the same manner.

"Indeed."


	4. Chapter 4

"What is all this?" Lion-O inquired as he and Korra walked around the room and observed all the displays.

"Just some things I've picked up over my many journeys," Bernard said as he observed Korra looking intently at a green and black watch in one of the cases. "I'm what you might call a dimensional traveler. I go from place to place in this vessel and explore countless worlds."

"Seems like a pretty fun ride," Korra admitted. "What's the story with all this?"

"Ah, these are just a few trinkets," He explained as he passed several more cases containing various items such as a sword, a cracked pink gemstone and a staff with a claw at the end. "Souvenirs from some of the heroes I've met along the way and there are quite a few of them believe me."

"So how did you know about us?" Lion-O asked.

"My ship is able to monitor worlds I plan to visit to let me know it's safe before hand. It also collects data and gives me a brief history of the goings on of that particular world. Crazy I know. Unfortunately my crew were distracted as we made our way to your world Korra and we crash landed in this place."

Korra stopped for a moment as she realized something. "That's it!" She shouted as the other two turned to her. "Your ship can bridge itself to any known universe. So what if, when you crashed here the ship used the spirit world as a bridge between my world and Lion-O's?"

"Seems like a feasible explanation. According to my research the frequencies of your worlds aren't all that different and this spirit world could merely be sandwiched between them. I'm actually surprised this hasn't happened sooner."

"But what about this Mumm-Rana Pumyra mentioned?" Lion-O added.

"Yeah, she seemed pretty determined to get whoever that is."

Bernard stops in his tracks upon hearing the name. "That...that's something I think you're going to want to see. This way please." He guided them out of the room and down the hall. "Korra, you know Raava and Vaatu? Order and Chaos." he asked as she nodded in confirmation. "And Lion-O, you know of the Ancient Spirits of Evil that Mumm-Ra harnesses?" the Lord of the Thundercats nodded likewise as they entered one of the rooms down the hall.

"Well what if I told you they were counterparts of each other?" Bernard switched the light on, revealing a large laboratory with several large empty tubes on the far side of the room.

"So wait, you're saying that Mumm-Ra is like a dark Avatar like my uncle was when he fused with Vaatu?"

"Precisely, and Mumm-Rana is and the Spirits of Good are his counterpart so..." Bernard explained as he waited for the two to connect the dots.

"So you're saying that I'm Mumm-Rana?" Korra said in shock as the man nodded with a smile. "Wow."

"Mumm-Rana is one of only two forces in your universe capable of stopping Mumm-Ra permanently."

"Well that explains why Mumm-Ra is so keen on getting to you." Lion-O said as the two continued on with Bernard.

"I do believe I have a way of stopping him but first I'll need your help."

"What can we do?" Korra asked as Bernard led them to two of the adjacent tubes on the wall. "Mumm-Ra knows that if you two were to join your powers you'd be unstoppable. The power of both the Avatar and with the ability to properly wield the Sword of Omens and the power stones. This machine will make that possible. Simply step inside and I can temporarily fuse the two of you into one form, a form not even Mumm-Ra and his armies could stop. And once that's out of the way it will give me ample time to repair my ship, repair the damage I've caused and be on my merry way."

"Sounds like a plan if ever there was one." Lion-O agreed.

"Yeah, just one problem," Korra said with a stern look on her face. "Who gets to be in control?" this caused the other two almost fell over, dumbfounded by her question.

"That's what you're worried about at a time like this?!" Lion-O scolded.

"What? When I get nervous I ask dumb questions, so sue me!" The two went back and forth as Bernard attempted to mediate.

"If we could simply..."

"You stay out of this!" The duo shouted in unison then got right back to their argument. As it continues, the head to head ends as the voices of his crew members came over it.

"Hey boss, did you finishes draining those guys' energy so we can add it to the others and get out of here?" Rush called over the line in her raspy voice. Lion-O and Korra both turned a suspicious gaze toward a clearly nervous Bernard as Rush called again. "I've said to much too soon again haven't I?"

"We'll talk about this later." He placed the device back in his pocket as the duo approached him. "I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this but..." He slowly backed away before raising his right hand and pressing a finger behind his ear. A split second after he fired two beams of green energy from his hands that send Korra and Lion-O leaping in different directions to avoid them. The Thundercat leader flanked the man, rushing with his sword drawn and delivered a heavy strike to his back. He was shocked to find it had no affect as the man's skin had taken on a silver color.

"You're made of metal?" He said in confusion as Bernard smiled before unleashing a furious combination of punches before he threw his opponent across the room.

"That makes it easy for me." Korra stepped up and used her metal bending to grab Bernard and tossed him into the far wall. She lifted him up again and prepared to repeat the process only to find that his metallic skin had vanished which caused her to lose control of him as he dropped to the ground freely. After he touched down to the ground Korra unleashed a torrent of flames that seemingly engulfed him. She was shocked to find the man surrounded by a pink hued bubble. He promptly clapped his hands, dissipating the orb and opened his mouth releasing a sonic scream so powerful that it pressed the Avatar against the wall before knocking her unconscious.

Lion-O resumed his attack as he took several more swings at Bernard, who evaded each blow as if he possessed some sort of sixth sense. Leaping backward the man seemingly reached down his throat and pulled a sword from his mouth. The two engage in a fierce duel as Bernard skillfully outmaneuvers Lion-O, using a fencing style that allows him to take advantage of his opponent's heavier swings. Before he realizes it however, he finds himself pinned against the wall as Lion-O lobs an overhead strike against him. The two clinch blades, coming face to face which allowed Bernard to fight dirty, delivering a headbutt to the Thundercat's nose that forced him to real back in pain.

He took full advantage of his off balance opponent, delivering a climbing knee to his chin that knocked the cat to the ground and out. "Now then," Lion-O could hear him say before he blacked out. "The three of you get down here now. We have work to do."

 **Some Time Later**

Korra awoke as she found herself restrained vertically on a flat slab of metal inside one of the tubes she saw earlier. "You're awake as well. Pity, for you I mean. I wouldn't bother trying to bend. That's platinum " Bernard, now wearing a small pair of glasses, said with his attention focused on the control console. Behind him stood his three nervous crewmen who watched anxiously. On his side sat the Sword of Omens hooked up to another console. She looked over to her right where an alert Lion-O joined her in staring down at their captor.

"You won't get away with...whatever it is you're doing." Korra shouted.

Bernard stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "You really expect me to waste my time with exposition when it really won't matter?"

"Oh come on boss, why not? It's not like we have anything better to do until everything is set." Zap stood next to him and pleaded until he finally gave in.

"Fine, if you insist." He turned his gaze upward slightly to look at the two. "When I told you I was an inter-dimensional traveler I was telling the truth. You see, I come from a fairly nice world with a reasonable goal: Get rich quick. Unfortunately for myself I have the bad luck of existing alongside this little pain of a teenage hero, The Magician from Mars. Hokey name I know but darned if she isn't powerful. Flight, super speed, matter manipulation, you name it she probably has it. Foils every plan I ever came up with." He flipped a switch and turned a few nobs before moving to another console.

"Build a giant robot, sink a ship, throw a girl off of an abandoned bridge, everything I did she was there to get in the way. Nothing I could do to stop her with all my technological might. I started to believe my expertise in that field could only carry me so far. That is until one of my teleportation experiments bore unexpected fruit. It hurled me into another world. I then came to find that slight adjustments in frequency could take me to a plethora of alternate places. After a bit of tweaking I found I could not only get to these worlds but open small, one way windows to observe them and the host of protectors that protected them."

"So you just decided to turn tail and run?" Lion-O said.

"On the contrary. Once I found these others like yourselves I came up with my most brilliant invention yet: The siphon. Long story short, it allows me to absorb a person's abilities, be it natural, mutation, magical or gifted from some device. If I deemed it useful I took it. It stores the powers and syncs with the little device right here." He pointed to a small device behind his right ear. "The moment I'm certain I have everything I need I'm heading back to deal with that little nuisance once and for all. You two will bring me significantly closer to that goal." Just as he hit the next series of switches and nobs something rattled the ship heavily, knocking Bernard and his trio of companions to the ground. "What the devil?"

Angel jumped to his feet and quickly went to one of the control consoles and opened a digital screen that brought up the external cameras of the ship. Outside was none other than Mumm-Ra, his generals, the Jiangshi and the entire Lizard army camped only about a hundred yards from where the ship lay. "It's Mumm-Ra!" Rush shouted in a panic.

"Thank you for the obvious," Bernard said, removing his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose. He then turned to the two captives. "Of course Mumm-Ra tracked you here. Why not?"

"Looks like you've got two challenges on your hand." Korra said smugly as Lion-O joined in.

"No, just one," Bernard turned back and walked toward the trio as he pressed the device behind his once again and held out his hand as the three were lifted into the air. "When I saved you nitwits from that zombie planet, that you created no less, I allowed you to serve me barring any screw ups and you have constantly disappointed." The three traded stares before Rush answered.

"Sorry?" She responded.

"In our defense, 'Practical Voodoo for the Impractical Man' was a bit hard to translate from ancient texts." Angel admitted, causing Bernard to form a glowing hand that ran through the air, slapping all three.

"Just stay here and make sure the transfer finishes. Can you manage that one simple task?" They hesitantly nodded as he dropped them and turned his attention back to Korra and Lion-O. "Avatar Korra, Lord Lion-O, it really has been an honor meeting the two of you." He headed toward the door and stopped to turn just before exiting. "And just so there is no confusion, you won't live through the siphon process. I do look forward to adding something of your personal effects to my collection."

"Ever been in one of these situations?" Korra asked as she attempted to get free.

Lion-O calmly turned his head to her in response. "Was just about to ask you the same question."


	5. Chapter 5

"Lord Mumm-Ra, the siege guns are in place." Slythe reported to his master as the decrepit creature stepped out of his vessel ahead of the army.

"Hold your fire until I give the word. I want the stones undamaged and Mumm-Rana taken alive. We will give our new allies the 'honor' of making first contact."

"Yes master." The two looked up as they watched a lone figure floating from the downed vessel ahead of them. Many of the Lizard's trained their weapons on it only for Mumm-Ra to raise his hand to halt, prompting them to lower their weapons. The individual, in rather plain attire, landed several feet in front of Mumm-Ra.

"Lord Mumm-Ra I presume," he said with a slight bow. "My name is Bernard. But I know you didn't come here for me to waste your time with introductions. No, you came here for the Cat and Mumm-Rana, correct?"

Bernard received no response as Pumyra stepped forward and attempted to push him aside. He wrapped a hand around her wrist and, activating the device behind his ear, flung her several dozen yards back into the army ranks. "I must apologize beforehand but Lord Lion-O and his friend are my special guests and I'm afraid they won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Now if you'd be so kind as to take your menagerie and turn back to where you came from that would be greatly appreciated."

"You insolent fool," Slythe said as he stood his ground. "Do you have any idea who you are dealing with?" Behind him and the Lizards were the Jiangshi force as well as Mumm-Ra's other generals. Bernard looked up to the sky as a large shadow loomed over in the form of what looked like a space-faring craft with The Demolisher standing on the bow.

The man simply chuckled as he turned his attention back to the mummified being in front of him. "That's a question you should ask yourselves." In the blink of an eye he vanished. A moment later dozens of the Lizard troopers throughout the ranks are knocked down or through the air as the Mumm-Ra's commanders look around at the chaos. The mechs turned as the attack seemed to come from all sides only to be put off balance by a blur that rushed under them seconds later.

Mumm-Ra, a bit shocked from what he has just seen but still composed turned back to where Bernard was as he appeared moments after the commotion. "You still want to do this?" he asked with a smirk.

"I summon the ancient spirits of evil. Transform this decayed form into Mumm-Ra the Ever Living!" Mumm-Ra chanted with his arms raised to the sky as he transformed from a feeble old man into a towering beast wielding the Sword of Plun-Darr.

Bernard calmly looked up at the monster before him and simply pointed a finger at him. "Okay."

 **Bernard's Vessel**

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Angel asked Rush as she fiddled with the controls of the siphoning machine.

She pressed several buttons before an error message appeared on the screen in front of them. "Not as sure as I was five minutes ago. I mean when's the last time he let us touch this thing anyway?"

"Probably after the whole fiasco when that kid duped us into letting him out and almost destroyed the ship." Zap commented as the three continued to fiddle with the controls. Meanwhile Lion-O was attempting to make any kind of progress in removing his restraints and get to his sword with little success.

"You have to admit that watch he had was pretty cool though." Just then the device monitoring Korra's heart rate began to spike as the woman's body began to shake violently, foam spewing from her mouth.

"Korra!" the ThunderCat shouted as the three others began to panic.

"Get her out of there," Rush quickly opened the container as the other two rushed over. "If she dies so do we." They quickly laid the slab back as they looked over the girl. "Go ahead and give her mouth to mouth."

"No way that's gross." Zap protested.

"It's not gross, it's a life saver."

"Then you do it."

"No way, that's gross."

"See!?"

Angel broke the argument up as they released the shackles from Korra's wrists and ankles as they attempted to revive her. They were surprised when she suddenly sprung to life, using her airbending to knock the three against a wall. "Well that worked out as planned." she said as she dusted herself off before walking over to the controls that opened Lion-O's pod.

"You couldn't have given me a little warning?"

"Had to make it look convincing. Now then..." After fetching the sword and tying up the three stooges, the two began to evaluate their situation. "Okay, so what do we do now?"

Across the room one of the outside cameras showed the battle between Bernard and Mumm-Ra as the former used many of his acquired abilities to continually befuddled the ancient warrior. Lion-O and Korra opened up another screen on the control panel that showed a long list of Bernard's victims complete with a list of powers they possessed. Among them a teenage boy with a red jacket and goggles, a blue skinned man with green hair, to their disgust a young boy with puffy hair with a star t-shirt and surprising enough what looked like a purple unicorn.

"First things first, we should destroy this thing. It's evil." Korra said coldly as she cracked her knuckles.

"I couldn't agree more." Lion-O said as he unleashed a blast of energy from the War Stone and Korra shot a huge fireball at the machine as they watched it erupt in a massive ball of fire.

"That's that." the Avatar brushed her hands off as the deed was now done.

"Yeah, that's that alright," Zap said as she and the others came to. "Course you made things a bit more complicated."

"I'll say." Angel responded, nodding his head.

"Okay, what are you three on about?" Korra demanded to know as Rush answered her.

"They're just saying: Bernard was just getting warmed up and, with all the powers at his disposal he would have handed Mumm-Ra his bandages in a bag and decimated his army. Then you could have shut down the machine down and killed two birds with one stone. But if you'd rather take on an army and it's evil overlord, far be it from us to keep heroes from their bravado."

"Wow you guys really are bad at giving early warnings."

"Hey, it's what we do."

Lion-O sighed as the two headed for the door. "Maybe we should have thought this through a bit more."

"Hey, if we thought everything through all the time we wouldn't be here." Korra said as she lightly jabbed him in the arm.

"True."

Meanwhile, the three prisoners did there best to wriggle free of their restraints. "Well there go two heroes who'll leave their mark wherever they go, off to face certain doom." Rush said as she managed to slip her arm out. "And sad to say, we'll be facing the same if we don't get out of there and fix this."

"And how, pray tell, are we going to do that?" Angel inquired.

"Simple," she hit a button on one of the still functioning panels that opens up a secret compartment on the wall with high tech gear and weapons hidden inside. "We get this stuff, beat feet to Third Earth, and blow this ship to kingdom come. Without it anchoring the worlds together, Bernard and the rest of these guys will be trapped on this side and we'll be free as birds."

"I love that plan," Zap jumped up excitedly. "That is a great plan."

Outside the ship, Bernard used the full torrent of his abilities against Mumm-Ra, unleashing the sonic scream that sent many of the dark lord's nearby minions flying. Even The Demolisher's ship was in danger of falling from the sky when, suddenly the attacked died down before stopping completely. Bernard opened his mouth, waiting for it to kick back in before nervously and frantically pressing the device behind his ear to get a power going. "Those idiots." he said under his breath as Mumm-Ra began to advance on him. "Fortunately their buffoonery was expected sooner or later." Pressing a button on his wrist activated a suit of black and green armor around him.

This trick did him little good as the wrist mounted blasters in his suit did little to halt Mumm-Ra as he activated the Tech Stone and generated armor around himself that deflected the shots. "Brilliant." Bernard attempted to fly into the air using a pair of jet boots only to find his right foot seized by the much larger Mumm-Ra who slammed him against the ground. He retaliated with a shoulder mounted launcher that fired a series of micro-munitions, marble sized explosives that bought him just enough time to flee toward his ship. None too amused, the ancient lord swung the Sword of Plun-Darr in Bernard's direction, releasing a wave of energy that struck the ground behind the fleeing man. The force of the blast sent him tumbling several dozen feet into the air toward his vessel and almost completely destroyed his armor as he slammed against the ground.

"Enough of this, Ridwan!" Mumm-Ra called out as the Jiangshi leader stepped forward. "Bring me Mumm-Rana, kill the Thunderan and bring me his sword and gauntlet." He complied as he ordered his troops forward.

Inside the ship Korra and Lion-O watched on the monitor as they saw what was waiting for them on the other side of the door. "You ready to bring it?" Lion-O asked as he drew his sword in preparation.

"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing." she did a few stretches to limber up before taking a deep breath, waiting for just the right moment to act. They watched the monitors as the Jiangshi approached. Soon they were at the door, banging and clawing in an attempt to get it open. The creatures stepped back in surprise as the door seemed to crumple like paper before violently shooting out at them, smashing several initially as the duo sprang from the ship's entry way and began their counterattack. Korra opened with several fireballs that took out their intended targets before whirling a ring of fire around her that made many of the attackers back away in fear.

"Push forward!" Lion-O shouted as he dispatched several more with his sword, using their height to his advantage as he easily swept their legs from underneath them.

"Looks like the cat still has his claws." Kaynar mused in excitement as he looked through a telescope.

Ridwan, standing nervously beside Mumm-Ra, decided to take further action. "Send in the rest." he ordered Cixi who complied by leading the charge of the second wave. Korra spotted them coming in the distance as she did her best to keep the hundred or so enemies already around them at bay.

"Get close," she shouted to Lion-O, who complied quickly as the two stood back to back. Using her earthbending, she erected a pillar almost twenty stories high beneath the duos feet. This didn't deter the Jiangshi as they took to the task of climbing the swiftly built structure. "Hang on to me if you don't want to go splat." She concentrated and, waiting until most of the enemy were at the midpoint of the pillar, used her bending again to take out the base which caused the whole thing to teeter and fall toward the oncoming second force.

"Korra!?" Lion-O shouted in a panic as he held on to the woman tightly as per her order. The Jiangshi on the pillar as well as those unfortunate enough to find themselves in the falling construct's path screamed in unison as it violently collided with the ground, crushing no small number of their force. Getting to her feet, Cixi led her troops forward only to find themselves outmaneuvered as Korra and Lion-O sunk into the earth and appeared about a hundred yards or so behind the Jiangshi force. Before they had time to react Korra, going into the Avatar State, erected a circular wall as high as her last construct around them, effectively putting them out of the fight for the time being.

Awestruck by Korra's performance left Lion-O almost picking his jaw up off the ground. "Maybe you should have opened with that."

"Can't always show them the good stuff from the get go." She said with shrugged shoulders as the two pressed forward.

"Allow us to end this Lord Mumm-Ra." Pumyra said as she led the lizards into battle with the other generals. The mechs, commanded by Voltaire in his own personal model, arc their cannons upward and fire, shots landing dangerously close to Lion-O and Korra as they make their advance.

Meanwhile the Jiangshi made the difficult climb out of the rock enclosure to return to the battle. "Come on climb," Cixi shouted as she led the force in scaling the wall. She turned her head and noticed that Fu had stopped her ascent to sniff the air. "What is it?"

Fu looked at her with a puzzle look. "Something is coming. That and...dinner?"

As Cixi led her forces out of their predicament, the Avatar and the ThunderCat prepared for the inevitable as the full force of Mumm-Ra's army was but seconds away. Only a few yards between them the sound of explosions came from the rear as several of the Lizard mechs went down. Many turned to see what had caused it as they witnessed an army of humans, clad in blue and white, with mechs of their own flanking the force from the left.

"Looks like Ryu got through." Korra said with a smile. A few seconds letter a torrent of arrows rained down on the Lizard force, causing many to scatter to avoid the projectiles. From the other side the two saw another force led by Willa and her sister Nayda atop a hill as they charged down in unison with the Northern Water Tribe forces.

"So did Willa." Lion-O said as they took advantage of the confusion and unleashed a combined attack on the enemy, the ThunderCat unleashing a blast from the stone embedded in his sword as Korra launched a massive fireball. The generals managed to dodge as the force was enough to blast a wedge in Mumm-Ra's ranks.

Pumyra looked around to inspect the situation before giving orders. "Slythe, get control of this troops, Ridwan, get your forces back into this fight, Kaynar and Addicus, your with me. We've got some annoyances to stamp out once and for all."

"Don't forget about us," Demolisher shouted from the prow of his vessel that loomed overhead. "Dirge, keep our new friends busy. Demolisher will have his revenge." Moments later the ship began firing at both advancing armies, forcing them to loosen up their formations.

"Well it looks like we got their attention." Lion-O stated as Kaynar and Addicus rushed him, separating him from Korra who was quickly set upon herself by Pumyra.

"Here kitty kitty kitty." Kaynar chuckled as he clashed blades with Lion-O. The cat was blind sided as Addicus struck him with his mace knocking him back. The Ape grinned wickedly as he tapped his weapon against his palm and he and the Dog made their way toward their target. They were stopped in their tracks as a jet of water cut them off. Suddenly, Desna and Eska got in between the combatants.

"Please, allow us to handle these two." Desna said in his usual monotone voice.

"Go and deal with this Mumm-Ra." Eska said as she turned her head slightly to look at him.

"Uh, thanks." He nodded in agreement as he began to make his way through the thick battle and toward the dark lord.

"Our cousin certainly keeps interesting company, does she not."

"Indeed brother." The duo launched a flurry of attacks against the two generals, using the animal skin pouches on their side which gave them a limited source of water.

"Twice the opponents, double the heads that roll!" Kaynar mused as he charged wildly forward, sinking his blade into the ground as the two stepped back and launched a unified shot of ice that encased his head. He struggled for a moment to get it off before being hit with another attack that knocked him out cold.

Addicus merely stepped over his fallen comrades body to continue the fight. "I should thank you. I've been trying to find a way to shut him up forever."

While the two rulers battled the Ape, their cousin was locked in battle with Pumyra as she used her agility to keep the Avatar off balance. "I don't get it," Korra asked as she did her best to evade several strikes from her opponents spear. "Why do this? Mumm-Ra is the one who attacked your people. Why side with him?"

"Why? Because Lion-O abandoned his people when they needed him most." She rushed forward, slashing Korra across the stomach with a glancing blow. "I have not betrayed them as he has." lunging forward she slashed the Avatar across the face with her claws.

"You work for the man responsible for devastating your entire culture and subsequently your death as well and who has plans to make everyone slaves? Yeah, you haven't betrayed them at all." Korra rolled her eyes with a quirky smile on her face as Pumyra charged at her. The two engaged in a high energy exchange as Korra launched every element at her disposal against Pumyra as the latter evaded and counter attacked as best she could.

"You know nothing of what I went through so don't pretend like you understand!" She furiously attacked Korra again as the bender backed away and began using her airbender training to smoothly evade the oncoming assault. Pumyra finally thrusts her spear at her as she doubled over, causing the Cat to flip over her shoulder and tumble to the ground.

"You're right, I don't know what you went through, but Lion-O does. He knows he's done wrong by you and the rest of your people and he's trying to fix it." Korra extends her hand to help Pumyra up. "Help us stop Mumm-Ra. Do you honestly believe he'll do anything good for anyone?"

Her downed opponent looked away for a moment before turning her eyes back to Korra. "You think it's that easy? Just team up and defeat Mumm-Ra?"

"Couldn't hurt to try."

Pumyra found herself chuckling. "It's too late for that I'm afraid." The Avatar couldn't help but notice that Pumyra's gaze widened, seemingly looking right through her as she suddenly got to her feet and jumped out of the way as a large explosion ripped up the ground where the two had been standing. Korra looked around to find her former opponent gone without a trace.

"Hey Avatar," She then spotted her three attackers; Bernard's henchmen decked out in black combat armor. The trio wore some form of footwear that had a blue glow underneath, allowing them to hover over the ground and, in addition to that each had a shoulder mounted rocket launcher. "We were just on our way out of dodge and thought we'd leave you with a parting gift. A rocket to the face!" Rush and the other two began moving around Korra in a wide circular formation as the she prepared herself for whatever came. The trio moved faster and faster, appearing as a blurs as they used their high tech gear to take aim. The Avatar relaxed as she began going into the motions of her airbender training once more. They fired at her almost in unison. The tables quickly turned as she evaded the first, which crashed into a group of Lizards, the second missed crashing harmlessly against a hill and the third was redirected using her airbending back into the path of the trio which caused them to crash into one another in a heap on the ground.

"Well that was embarrassing." Angel said as they stared up at Korra, who looked none too pleased with her glowing eyes. They jumped up, ready for round two. "Alright then Avatar."

"It's time to stop playing games." Zap said menacingly.

"Time for our ultimate technique that has served us well." Rush joined in as they prepared.

"A move that has never failed us in the past. Ready, and..." They all said in unison. "Run away!" the trio disappeared, moving as fast as they could, bowling through the battle lines and out of Korra's sight, leaving her stunned.

"You guys are pathetic!" She yelled as she watched their progress. She sensed something behind her and immediately propelled herself into the air to avoid it as one of the Jiangshi raced across the ground on all fours into the battle line like a rocket, far ahead of the advancing force on the horizon. "Oh boy. I hope you're ready Ryu because her she comes." As she descended she spotted Lion-O as he made his way toward Mumm-Ra and decided to use her air scooter to catch up with him.

Above the battle, Demolisher's ship continued to reign fire upon the ground targets as the Warrior Maidens and Water Tribe forces could do little to nothing to stop the onslaught. The bounty hunter watched as she made her way across the field. "Fire Dirge! Blast her into oblivion." The armadillo like creature aimed a set of guns in Korra's path. Explosions ripped up the ground and tossed troopers into the air as she did everything in her power to stay on the air made transport. She spun around and, still moving in the direction, slung several large pieces of earth at the vehicle that smashed against the hull as she kept going.

Near the outskirts of the field Voltaire and what remained of his mech unit, having cleared out the Water Tribe machines, awaited orders to open fire should the opportunity arise. "What is that?" He asked as he sat up in his seat, witnessing three quick objects coming there way. "Prepare yourselves. We've got incoming." The mechs unleashed their fire power on the three fast moving targets as they approached.

"Well that couldn't have gone worse if we'd planned it." Rush complained as the glided over the ground with her compatriots in tow.

"And we did." Angel muttered as he pulled up the rear. They hear a sharp whistling sound as several shells go off around them. "What was that?!" they panicked as the shells continued to fall. They then looked ahead as they saw the mechs firing on them.

"Move, move, move!" Zap screamed as they attempted to evade the shots coming their way. One blast was close enough to damage Zap's hover boots which caused her to jump into Angel's arms. This, in turn caused him to drop his weapon in response to catch her but also made him lose his balance and crash into the back of Rush. The sudden bump was enough for her to accidentally fire her remaining rocket into the air that to it's credit hit the main engine of Demolisher's ship. The three tumbled forward and passed right underneath the mechs.

Aboard the bounty hunter's vessel, Dirge tried every thing imaginable to get the ship stabilized as his master berated him. "Get this thing under control you fool!"

"Demolisher is going down, Demolisher is going down, Demolisher is going down!" the diminutive minion frantically cried as they went down.

The suits turned around as the trio attempted to collect themselves. "I'm not sure who you are," Voltaire stated as he and the others took aim. "But considering you're not with Mumm-Ra, I'm not sure it matters a great deal." He noticed that the three were staring up in fear, frantically pointing to something. "What the blazes are they doing?"

As he wondered a large shadow began to loom over his unit and the soon to be casualties. He then turned his mech to see what the commotion was all about; the falling ship of Demolisher careening toward them, a seeming result of the stray rocket. At this point Voltaire could do little but scream as the vessel hit the hill which erupted in an explosion that shook the surrounding area.

 **Meanwhile**

Ryu aided the Maidens as best he could, utilizing his airbending to keep any large grouping of Lizards from overwhelming them. He continued giving support until something caught his and Willa's attention as they witnessed several warriors being flung into the air. A few seconds later whatever it was whipped past Willa as she turned her head to find that Ryu was no longer there. The airbender was slammed hard against the ground a good distance away by the terrifyingly familiar face of Fu the Jiangshi.

"Hey dinner, did you miss me?" she asked playfully with a grin, her razor sharp teeth in full view.

"Great." Ryu commented sarcastically as she laid on top of him, pinning his arms to prevent him from escaping. As she prepared to take the first bite an explosion not far off from them rocked the ground beneath them as Demolisher's ship erupted into a fireball spewing large chunks of metal in every direction. Ryu used the distraction to take in breath and blasted Fu several feet in the air as he began to run.

Hitting the ground she took a moment to get her wits about her as she shook her head, completely unaware of the large piece of fiery metal that was tumbling toward her. Ryu however, took full notice and paused for a moment as he watched it approach the unsuspecting Fu. "Gosh!" he said flustered as he raced back, tackling her out of the way mere seconds before she was a stain on the ground. The Jiangshi was stunned from what had happened. Half from the chunk of metal that she watched tumble by and half from the man who now lay atop her.

"You...You saved me? Even after I tried to chew on your head?"

"Yep," Ryu answered simply as he looked around. "So, are we still battling to the death or whatever?"

"Believe it or not, I've actually lost my appetite."

As the battle went on around them, Korra and Lion-O finally made their way to where Mumm-Ra stood a top a hill. Seeing them coming he launched another wave of energy with his sword. "I got this." Lion-O said as he fired an energy beam from his sword that canceled out the oncoming attack. "Mind giving me a boost?"

"My pleasure." Korra used her earthbending to propel the ThunderCat forward, putting him behind Mumm-Ra, who spun around to strike him only to be hit himself by a powerful fire blast from Korra as she entered the avatar state. The duo tag-teamed him with Lion-O's many slashes against his armor and Korra's elemental attacks wore him down. The dark lord slammed his sword against the ground and knocked both off of their feet. Korra propelled herself into the sky only to be blasted by a beam of energy fired from the chest piece of his armor that sent her plummeting back to earth.

"Mumm-Rana, how far you've fallen. I assumed you'd put up more of a fight." His chest piece glowed as he prepared to unleash another blast.

"Korra!" Lion-O shouted, placing himself in front of her as he braced himself for the blast, using the Spirit Stone to generate a shield. The beam impacted against the dome as Lion-O focused on keeping it up under the constant stream. As he strained to hold it he notice a bright light engulfing Korra as her unconscious form levitated off the ground. Soon the light encompassed them both and blinded everyone around as the ground began to shake. When the light finally died a large white pyramid stood where the two once were.

"No." Mumm-Ra uttered in terror as he frantically attacked the structure with the sword of Plun-Darr, with little to no effect. A distance away from rejoining the battle that still raged, Ridwan and the other Jiangshi look on in astonishment.

"What is that?" one of them asked as their leader did an about-face.

"That my friends is the green light for us to wait and see how this turns out, lest we face utter annihilation."

Inside the huge pyramid Lion-O looked around in a panic as Korra began to come to. "Oh boy, did someone get the number of that truck?" She rubbed her head before looking around and took notice of the gleaming white room they found themselves in. They turned from the door in front of them to a long room with a pool of water centralized and stretched along the length of the room that led to a set of steps that lead up to a white sarcophagus with golden engravings. Korra's eyes seemed to lock onto it and, unable to look away began to walk toward it.

"We need to figure out someway to get out of here and..." Lion-O pondered only to stop when he noticed Korra halfway up the steps. "What are you doing?"

"It may sound crazy but something tells me this is where we need to be. This is where I need to be." She approached the ornate box slowly and placed her hand on it as her eyes began to glow. A few moments later she stepped back. "This...this is Mumm-Rana's Pyramid. Bernard was actually telling the truth. Not only that but now we have a way to stop Mumm-Ra."

"What's that?" 

"You have the Soul Stone. Using that in conjunction with this will allow us to combine our powers just like Bernard said, only this will really work. Trust me." The ThuderCat gave a confident nod as the two stepped forward and both placed their hands on the sarcophagus.

Outside the tomb Mumm-Ra did everything in his power to open it up, still having made no headway. All went silent as a pillar of light shot from the top of the tower which caused Mumm-Ra to reel back from the blinding flash. As it died down a bird winged figure wearing white and gold lion like armor, complete with a helmet that shielded their face appeared on top of the pyramid, the Sword of Omens in their hands. "Mumm-Rana." Mumm-Ra managed to choke out as he steeled his nerves and charged toward his ancient enemy. The clash of blades caused the sky above to change a purplish color and the ground to tremble beneath them as many below had ceased fighting, far too focused on the battle of titans above to be bothered with each other any longer.

Mumm-Rana parried and evaded many of her foes attacks as he swung with reckless abandoned in an attempt to rid himself of her once and for all. Floating backward, she held out her hand and unleashed a torrent of white hot fire that engulfed him in it's intensity. He dropped down and proceeded to fly higher in an attempt to lose her. She pursued and launched several more blasts that came close to hitting their mark before he spun around and waved his sword, sending out several energy blades. One of the projectiles found it's mark and caused Mumm-Rana to tumble from the sky.

She hit the ground face first, skidding several dozen feet before getting to her feet. The white clad warrior noticed a large shadow looming over her as Mumm-Ra came down at full speed in an attempt to run her through. Countering as best she could, Mumm-Rana staggered back as her foe delivered several heavy blows. To better defend herself she erected a wall between them only to see it shattered in seconds. She attempted to stall him with a powerful air blast but he stabbed his sword into the ground and closed his wings in order to best resist it.

"Enough!" shouted Mumm-Ra as he blasted her with another beam from his chest that sent her sprawling backward. Her armor smoking, she attempted to raise the Sword of Omens only for her looming enemy to stomp on her hand as he raised his own blade. "I have to admit I was worried at first but it would seem that we are destined to repeat this. You will arise to stop me and yet I will always prevail. Even with the cheap knockoff of a blade and the stones in your possession the end result is inevitable."

He brought his sword down on her head only to find, an inch away from her face, he can push it no further. "It is an impressive blade Mumm-Ra but Korra has a message for you: It's not platinum." She began to rise as Mumm-Ra struggled to get control of his own weapon. Rushing forward she dashed passed him opening a large gash across his midsection where a dark mist began to stream out of. He began to back away and clutched his side as Mumm-Rana focused and water began to stream from the pyramid and floated above her.

She began to move her hands in a fluid motion as the water swirled around Mumm-Ra and a blue aura began to engulf him. He screamed, seemingly in pain and fear as she clasped her palms together. "Go in peace." His body dissipated into a thick black smoke that was sent screaming across the spirit world into the portal from which they emerged into the world and raced across all of Third Earth, back into his tomb in the Black Pyramid.

His army in complete and utter shock at what has just happened, Slythe takes charge of the situation. "All forces, full retreat!" he shouted as the Lizards and the remaining generals fled at full speed over the horizon toward the portal home. The Maidens and Water Tribe decided against pursuing them and simply let them be.

Addicus and Kaynar break off their battle with the twins and join the other retreating forces. The Dog however, couldn't resist one last taunt before leaving with them. "It's been fun but we really have to be going. Maybe we could chew the fat sometime. I know a guy who could lose a couple pounds anyway."

"Do shut up." Desna replied as he and his sister hit the cackling Dog with an ice shot that knocked him out cold once again, forcing Addicus to carry him home. Mumm-Rana touches down and, in a flash of light, disappears as Lion-O and Korra take her place. They watch as Mumm-Ra's troops took their leave. As they head over a large hill Pumyra, picking up the rear with the last of the Lizards, stopped and turned to Korra. The two gave a brief nod of acknowledgment before she vanished over the other side.

"Well that certainly was...something." Lion-O said, exhausted from the battle.

"You can say that again."

The two then took notice as the allied armies burst into celebration over their victory. Willa and the others made their way through the crowd to meet up with them. "That was incredible. Never seen anything like it before."

"That's for sure." Ryu added as the others looked on in shock as Fu stood behind him.

"Uh Ryu? You got a little something there behind you." Korra said as she pointed to the towering figure.

"Don't sweat it Korra. We're cool now."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Well cousin Korra, another fine mess you've found yourself in." Eska commented as she and her twin brother approached.

"Really sorry about having to drag you guys into all this." she said as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

Desna and Eska glanced at each other for a moment before nodding and turning their gaze back to Korra. "Would you care to...hangout sometime?"

"Seriously?"

"Indeed," Desna responded. "You keep our lives so interesting."

In the midst of the conversation one of the Maidens ran over to them. "Lord Lion-O, Avatar Korra. I am Nayda of the Maidens. I thank you for protecting my sister, our queen."

"Queen?" the two asked in baffled confusion as Willa stepped forward.

"I apologize for the deception but my sister insists that I not broadcast who I am when I go on missions."

"Which you shouldn't be on anyway, being our ruler and all." Nayda said under her breath as her sister took notice. "What I meant to say is that I'm glad this is all over so you can go back to ruling instead of me."

"Actually you may have to bare the burden a bit longer," her sister gave a curious and somewhat worried look. "I've decided to travel with Lion-O in his quest to find the last of the stones and the Maidens will aid in whatever capacity we can. If that is alright with Lord Lion-O of course."

"Of course it is." he said immediately after receiving a nudge from Korra.

"Splendid." Nayda said in faked joy. Her expression changed to one of surprise as the laughter had ceased. The cause of the cancellation was none other than Ridwan and his sizable Jiangshi force.

"Well look what we have here. You're armies are exhausted and our greatest threat has fled. I don't know about you all but I've worked up an appetite as big as the Spirit World."

"Really?" Korra said as she began walking towards him. "After all that you still want a fight? Allow me to explain something to you. I've faced the anti-benders, an entity of pure chaos, a mad anarchist movement, a massive machine that spewed spirit energy and to top it all off, Lion-O and I just fought and defeated the living embodiment of evil itself. So I think you might want to step back and ask yourself one thing: How good do I feel about my chances right now?"

Ridwan stood stone faced as he and Korra stared each other down for what felt like an eternity before he spoke. "Jiangshi! I foresee a glorious future for us all when we take back our home. Many will fall before us and much is their to be gained. But today is not that day. Mumm-Ra has proven to be a false prophet who meant nothing but out destruction. Let us return home." He shifted away from Korra and joined his followers on their long trek back to their caverns. As he walked he stopped and turned to his side as he spotted Fu standing among the enemy force alongside the human she'd tried to feast on earlier.

She walked toward him and gave him a salute. "You our my leader and I have followed you faithfully. That being said I wish to stay with the human. This day my life is his."

Ridwan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder before turning to rejoin his troops. He couldn't help but burst into laughter as he continued on his way. "Such interesting times we find ourselves in, eh Cixi?"

"Certainly sir but what comes next?"

"It's as I told the Avatar. Wheels within wheels."

As they departed no one had taken notice that Bernard's body had vanished from where he'd been before the battle commenced. Beaten and burnt and his armor barely functioning, he'd managed to make it back inside his ship. In the control room he found that fixing the dimensional drive was easier than he'd thought. "Why did I trust three idiots to do a simpletons job?" He fell back into the swivel chair behind him and waited patiently for the systems to come on line.

"Hey boss." he looked up to see Rush forefront on the screen with the other two in the background, Angel waving nonchalantly and Zap smacking her butt mockingly at the camera. "We figured you'd be pretty miffed at us screwing up again so we didn't wait around for you. Of course we felt a little bad about the whole ordeal so we left you a little going away present." Several more monitors opened up with images of bombs planted all over the ship including his trophy room. "Think of it as our way of saying: You sucked as an employer. Toodles."

"Bernard, realizing it's too late to do anything about it simply consigned himself to his fate as the bombs began ticking seconds before the vessel phased out of the realm.

In a cave about a mile off the trio of Rush, Zap and Angel waited in the darkness for the Lizard army to pass over them as they could hear the marching just above them. "I still can't believe we managed to make it out of all of that." Angel whispered.

"Yeah, that was pretty awesome." Zap added in a joyful tone.

"Not exactly the word I'd use to describe it." As they went back and forth Rush's watch began to beep.

"Well that's it. Bernard found our little gift. I hope he likes it. I wish I could have seen the expression on his..." She stopped as she felt an uncomfortable feeling. "Cut it out Angel. I told you we're just friends."

"What are you talking about?" He said in the darkness.

"I can't believe I'm saying this. Zap please tell me that's your hand squeezing my butt."

"Nope. Let me see, I think I have one match left." She lit the small source of light that shone just enough for Rush to turn around and see a Jiangshi child holding her from behind.

"Aw, it's kind of cute." Her expression changed as she looked around, the walls crawling with the little buggers, their sharp fangs bared as they encircled the three.

"Not the word I would have used." Angel said nervously as one of the blue children slid down and blew out their remaining source of light.

Back on the surface the large group with Korra and Lion-O watched Bernard's ship vanish into thin air. "That can't be good," Lion-O said. "If that thing was the only anchor between our worlds we'd better hurry back to our portal before it closes."

"Your probably right," Korra admitted. "Still it was great meeting someone else out there like me. I'll definitely never forget you Lion-O. Especially not with a parting gift like that." She pointed over to the large Pyramid that still remained as the two shared a final laugh before both groups parted ways.

As Lion-O's group reached the portal and began to file through he took one last look back and he could swear he spotted his mother and father, together and smiling, waving to him from one of the nearby hills. "Lion-O?" he heard Willa call before finally walking through moments before the portal closed for good.

 **A Few Days Later**

Korra, now at her small residence on Air Temple Island was taking a breather from the constant barrage of requests and calls, having been out the last few days expending herself for the people of Republic City. She had to take this small moments when she could as her life recently taught her they'd be few and far between. Though she tried to tune out all the distractions around her one thing still came through, the admittedly grating sound of Ryu's mother outside. This time however she was gushing over the fact that her son had gotten himself what she perceived to be a girlfriend, albeit a strange one.

"We really have to have you over for dinner honey." she said happily.

"Mom, gosh. Stop making such a big deal out of things and she's not my..."

"Do you have ostrich chickens?" Fu interrupted. "Our those still around?"

"Certainly deary, anything you'd like."

Korra couldn't help but chuckle mildly as she attempted to meditate once again. She then sensed something behind her. "No offense Tenzin but I'm trying to make the most of my relaxation time." Receiving no answer, in fact never even hearing the door open she spun around. The person she saw filled her with both joy and confusion. "Aang?" She'd seen him once before but after what transpired with Vaatu she never believed she'd see him again.

"Hello Korra."

"How is this possible I thought my connection to...The pyramid. I don't know how but it must have restored my connection. This is unbelievable."

Aang chuckled himself before speaking again. "You'll find there are a lot of unbelievable things when you get to be my age."

"There are so many things I want to tell you. So many things I want to ask you."

The old airbender sat himself down. "Where would you like to start?

"How about the beginning."


	6. Epilogue

**Two Weeks Later**

After the exciting adventure with Korra, Lion-O and Willa were happy to be back on Third Earth, having joined up with the other ThunderCats. Aboard their airborne vessel, Willa sat comfortably in her seat as the group waited to reach the next town in their continued search for the final stone. "So how are you liking the team so far?" Lion-O asked, seated across from her.

"Everyone has been great. I'm learning so much from Panthro and Tygra about these machines and Cheetara and the twins have been extremely friendly."

"I'm glad you're getting used to things around here. I know it can get pretty crazy."

"Not as much as our first adventure though, right?"

"Of course. I don't think anything else will hold a candle to that for a while. Just wish that was the last we'd see of Mumm-Ra. Somehow I doubt it'll be that simple." As the two continued to converse, the Sword of Omens began to glow with a dim light.

"What is that?"

"I'm about to find out," Uncertain of exactly what it was, Lion-O sat on the floor Indian style and put the sword in front of him as he began to meditate. He opened his eyes after a few moments to find himself back in the White Pyramid in the Spirit World.

"Hey," He spun around after hearing the familiar voice to find Korra sitting atop the stairs of the ornate inner room. "Been a minute, huh? You wouldn't believe what this place lets me do."

"After what we went through I'm up for believing anything." Lion-O said as he arose and the two met. "So how are things on your end?"

"Oh boy. Where to start? Well you know those Jiangshi..." Korra regaled Lion-O of tales from the current Earth Kingdom civil war as he entertained her with a story of a group calling themselves the Lunataks. The two went on for a good while, both grateful to know there was a kindred spirit only a world away.


End file.
